Colour goesโ€ฆ back to the futureโ€ฆ

Colour goes… back to the futureโ€ฆ

Colour predictions are a big event, and Pantone is a major influencer. Fashion brands, makers and interior designers will be gearing up to be on-trend, because colour is such an important part of how we express ourselves. Colour can make us feel more comfortable, more assured, more attuned. And these two colours will be woven into our lives next year, hoping to change the mood of us all.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Simply this… I am giving thanks this week for four โ€˜oven readyโ€™ (to quote Boris & a nod to ‘Turkey’) vaccines that are being readied to roll out.I am especially excited by the Oxford University/ Astra Zeneca vaccine that seems to be the most portable.I am full of new hope for 2021

Go get โ€™em tiger!

Go get ’em tiger!

Being in the business of branding, like most designers โ€“ the most difficult brand to create is your own. Even though you know your own clients, and the work you like to do, itโ€™s still difficult to be objective about yourself. When you are working for a client, you are working towards a goal, usually a deadline for a brand, re-brand, or campaign. Youโ€™ve worked out and agreed a budget, youโ€™re part of a team. So the only way you can effectively brand for yourself, is to become your own client, or hire another designer… which does work in large agencies, but not for any self-respecting consultant designer I know. Tantamount to cheating in an exam?!

Let me entertain you!

Let me entertain you!

The attention economy and our infinite appetite for distractions is the subject of a lovely RSA short and thought it was worth a share, and a rant! The talk is by James Williams from 2017 (the animation is new). The more I listened, the more I nodded.

Howโ€™s your mojo?

Howโ€™s your mojo?

We have had months of mojo mangling. Our boundaries between home and work have mingled. Is your mojo all fired up and ready for the rest of the year? … probably not. Iโ€™ve worked from my home studio for a long time, here are my tips to get your mojo on track ๐Ÿ˜‰

Inspiration and where to find it

Inspiration and where to find it

Solving design problems is my thing. I like to research by reading the brief, having a chat, sometimes seeing how others have solved the problemโ€ฆ but the one thing I have to do isโ€ฆ sleep on it. By my bed you will find a sketchbook where I work through ideas before going to sleep, or to capture them as I fall into, or wake from, sleeping. If you can hold onto a question that you want to solve โ€“ your lovely brain has a whole night to try and figure out the answer for you.

Excuse me โ€ฆa LinkedIn top tip

Excuse me …a LinkedIn top tip

If you’ve invested in your brand, or just have an unusual name, it’s good for you to hear it properly, and whoever is saying it, not to find out later that they’ve just spent an hour mis-pronouncing it and feel a bit foolish. Here is a LinkedIn top tip…

Every day is my independence day!

Every day is my independence day!

THANK YOU! I am incredibly grateful to all my clients, and people who recommend me to new clients, or who โ€˜likeโ€™ my posts, or tweets. I feel blessed that some clients have kept me going during the Covid-19 lockdown, and throughout the year give me projects of all sizes, keeping the wolves from my door.

Be a good egg + go to work

Be a good egg + go to work

I made this picture a few weeks ago. It was my response to how I feel about the ‘return’ to work. Unsteady, like balancing on an egg. But we need to go back to work, and juggle with the virus, and still conqueror the spread. That we are on an island,...
Every Mind Matters: Grief & Covid-19

Every Mind Matters: Grief & Covid-19

I was awake at 5.30 this morning , despite having had a late bed time. (OK, I did fall asleep on and off watching a documentary on Vimeo about new ways of designing office space at Norman Foster architects and had to keep rewinding!). After realising I was so awake...